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Definition

Supplier engagement target Definition

A supplier engagement target commits a company to having a defined share of suppliers, measured by spend or value-chain emissions, complete a specified sustainability action by a target date.

What is a supplier engagement target?

A supplier engagement target belongs to the buyer, not each supplier. It states the supplier population, coverage percentage, measurement basis, required action, and deadline. For an SBTi supplier or customer engagement target under Corporate Near-Term Criteria Version 5.3.1, criterion C19 requires the target wording to state the percentage of relevant value-chain emissions covered. If that figure is unavailable, the wording may use the percentage of annual procurement spend instead. Covered suppliers or customers must have science-based emission reduction targets aligned with the latest SBTi Corporate Near-Term Criteria. The buying company must fulfil the engagement target within five years of submitting it to SBTi for validation.

Why does a supplier engagement target matter to you?

You may meet the buyer's target in a contract, portal question, or annual supplier review. Salesforce's Sustainability Exhibit section 2.1.1, for example, requires a covered supplier to submit an SBTi commitment letter within 90 days, use good-faith efforts to have its target validated within two years or the current SBTi deadline, and provide its target plan on request.

CDP's 2026 full questionnaire, Question 5.11.7, asks the buying company what action its engagement drives, the percentage of tier 1 suppliers by procurement spend engaged, and the percentage of tier 1 supplier-related Scope 3 emissions covered. CDP counts the suppliers covered by the engagement activity, not only suppliers that have already completed a target. Your buyer may still ask for target-status evidence separately to track whether its engagement is producing the intended result.

How does a supplier engagement target work?

The buyer fixes a reporting year and eligible population, then maps suppliers to the relevant Scope 3 categories, such as Category 1 purchased goods and services, Category 2 capital goods, or Category 4 upstream transport. It ranks suppliers by emissions or spend. Coverage equals the emissions or spend represented by suppliers meeting the required action, divided by the emissions or spend of all eligible suppliers, multiplied by 100.

For an SBTi submission under Version 5.3.1, criterion C6 requires all Scope 3 targets together to cover at least 67% of total Scope 3 emissions. Criterion C19 footnote 22 allows spend as the engagement metric, but requires an estimate of the emissions represented by that spend. An annual tracker should retain each supplier's identifier, reporting-year spend or emissions, target document, target status, validation status, and completion date.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Counting a supplier as complete because it attended a webinar when the target requires a written or validated target.
  • Using FY2025 spend in the denominator and FY2026 supplier status in the numerator without recording the change.
  • Reporting 80% coverage by spend as 80% coverage by emissions without the estimate required by SBTi criterion C19 footnote 22.
  • Presenting supplier target adoption as a measured Scope 3 emissions reduction. The two percentages answer different questions.

Is a supplier engagement target the same as a supplier emissions reduction target?

No. The buying company's engagement target measures how many suppliers complete an action, such as setting a science-based target. Each supplier's emissions reduction target separately states its own base year, target year, covered scopes, and reduction percentage.

Should you measure supplier coverage by spend or emissions?

Use emissions when you can attribute Scope 3 emissions to suppliers consistently. Spend is often easier to obtain, but price changes can alter coverage without any emissions change. If SBTi criterion C19 uses spend, calculate the associated emissions estimate; CDP Question 5.11.7 requests both spend and emissions coverage where the fields apply.

What should you send when a customer says you are in its target?

Send the exact document the request names: your approved target wording, covered scopes, base and target years, SBTi commitment or validation record, and latest progress. For a Salesforce Sustainability Exhibit section 2.1.1 request, that may be the commitment letter, validation status, and target plan. Do not describe a target as SBTi-validated unless the validation is complete.

Worked example

Suppose an electronics contract manufacturer in Thailand reports 120,000 tCO2e of total Scope 3 emissions for FY2026. Its component, material, and production-equipment suppliers account for 100,000 tCO2e in Categories 1 and 2. Twenty-two suppliers account for 82,000 tCO2e of that amount.

Target wording: By 31 December 2030, suppliers covering 82% of FY2026 Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services and capital goods will have science-based emissions reduction targets aligned with the applicable SBTi criteria.

Category coverage: 82,000 tCO2e / 100,000 tCO2e x 100 = 82%. Total Scope 3 coverage: 82,000 tCO2e / 120,000 tCO2e x 100 = 68.3%. That exceeds the current SBTi criterion C6 minimum of 67%, provided the company's complete Scope 3 inventory and any other targets or exclusions do not change the denominator.

At the FY2027 review, nine of the selected suppliers have qualifying targets and represent 34,500 tCO2e of the FY2026 Category 1 and 2 denominator. Current coverage is 34,500 / 100,000 x 100 = 34.5% of the relevant Categories 1 and 2 denominator, not nine divided by 22. This is 42.1% of the way to the 82% target because 34.5 / 82 x 100 = 42.1%. This hypothetical example uses no emission factor because it calculates target coverage, not emissions.

Where you'll meet it

SBTi supplier or customer engagement target boundary, formulation, timeframe and ambitionSBTi Corporate Near-Term Criteria Version 5.3.1, C19 and footnote 22Official sourceCDP supplier engagement action and coverage by procurement spend and Scope 3 emissionsCDP 2026 Full Corporate Questionnaire, Question 5.11.7Salesforce supplier science-based target commitment, validation and target-plan requestSalesforce Sustainability Exhibit, section 2.1.1

Related terms

Science-Based Targets

A science-based target states how quickly a company will cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with a climate pathway accepted by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), using a defined boundary, base year and target year.

Scope 3 Emissions

Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from goods, services, transport, product use, investments, and other upstream and downstream activities outside your company's Scope 1 and Scope 2 boundary.

Primary vs secondary GHG data

Primary GHG data records a specific site, product, activity, or supplier, while secondary GHG data estimates that activity with external averages, databases, financial factors, or other proxies.

Sustainability contract clause

A sustainability contract clause makes environmental or social duties binding in a commercial agreement by defining the required data, targets, records, reporting dates, cooperation and remedies.

Sources

  • Science Based Targets initiative

    Corporate Near-Term Criteria Version 5.3.1, criteria C6 and C19, supplier coverage, target wording, five-year deadline, ambition, and spend-based emissions estimate

    2026-08-19

  • CDP

    2026 Question 5.11.7 supplier engagement actions and coverage by procurement spend and supplier-related Scope 3 emissions

    2026-08-19

  • Salesforce

    Sustainability Exhibit section 2.1.1 supplier commitment, validation timing, target achievement and plan request

    2026-08-19

Last verified 2026-08-19

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Supplier engagement target Definition | Keslio